Plant

Cilantro / coriander

Coriandrum sativum

Also known as: coriander, Coriandrum sativum, Chinese parsley, dhania

An annual herb in the carrot family (Apiaceae) — one of the oldest cultivated culinary herbs, with seeds recovered from 8,000-year-old Israeli archaeological sites. A single plant gives two distinct ingredients: the fresh leaves (called *cilantro* in the Americas, *coriander* in British English, *dhania* in South Asia) and the dried seeds (called *coriander* in both British and American English). Foundational to Mexican, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean cuisines — though a genetic polymorphism in the human *OR6A2* olfactory receptor gene makes a subset of the population perceive cilantro leaves as having a soap-like taste.

Illustration via Wikimedia Commons — see source for license.

Scientific

Coriandrum sativum (family Apiaceae) is an annual herb of the carrot family — same family as [[carrot]], [[parsley]], [[fennel]], and [[cumin]]. The leaves and the seeds are chemically distinct: the leaves contain aldehydes (especially (E)-2-decenal) that produce the fresh-cilantro flavor; the dried seeds contain linalool and other compounds with an entirely different warm-citrus-floral flavor profile.

A well-documented genetic polymorphism in the OR6A2 olfactory receptor gene affects cilantro perception. Carriers of certain variants taste cilantro leaves as soap-like and aversive; others taste them as fresh and pleasant. The polymorphism varies in frequency across populations; the soapy-cilantro perception is more common among East Asian, European, and African heritage populations than among South Asian, Middle Eastern, or Latin American populations.

Cultural and historical

Coriander seeds have been recovered from 8,000-year-old Pre-Pottery Neolithic B archaeological sites in Israel — among the oldest direct evidence of cultivated culinary herbs. Egyptian tombs contained coriander; Tutankhamun’s burial included sealed jars of the seeds.

The double-naming convention is one of the most consistent regional vocabulary differences in English culinary discourse:

American English — cilantro (leaves) / coriander (seeds)
British English — coriander (both)
South Asian English — dhania (both, sometimes distinguished as “fresh dhania” and “dry dhania”)
Latin American Spanish — cilantro (the leaves) / culantro sometimes refers to the related Eryngium foetidum, a different plant

The Mexican / Latin American culinary embrace of cilantro is essentially total — every salsa, every taco, every soup tradition uses the fresh leaves. Indian, Thai, Vietnamese, and Middle Eastern uses are similarly foundational.

Global production

Top producers (seeds): India, Russia, Iran, Morocco, Bulgaria. India alone produces most of the world’s coriander seed.

Sources

Wikipedia — Coriander

A plant entry in the 0mn1.one [[directory]].

What links here, and how

Inbound connections from across the wiki, grouped by lens and by relationship. These appear automatically — every entity page declares what it links to, and that data populates here on the targets.

Cultural

shares approach with

Anise auto-linked from body mention
Caraway auto-linked from body mention
Celery auto-linked from body mention
Chervil auto-linked from body mention
Cumin auto-linked from body mention
Dill auto-linked from body mention
Lemon Cilantro-and-lemon is the universal Mediterranean and Middle Eastern bright-flavor pair, exactly parallel to cilantro-and-lime in Mexican and Vietnamese; the same herbal-acid structure with different acid sources.
Tomato Foundational Mexican salsa pairing — tomato + cilantro + lime + onion + chili is the bedrock of essentially every Mexican fresh sauce.

General